CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

I'm looking for some new anime. My ideal anime has drama, serious plot, philosophy and lots of character development. Original/ high quality animation is also very important.
I also don't want something that degrades the worth of life, e.g. that life is meaningless and it doesn't matter if we are good or bad. Nothing where the main characters are killed in the end, please!
As far as content, no sex scenes . Violence isn't that much of a problem.
If you could just list questionable content, I may be willing to put up with something’s if it's a really good story/ and or art.
Thank you for reading this ^-^.

Anime I've already seen.
Wolfs Rain [cool story, nice art, strange/bad ending]
Last Exile [haven't finished] Vol. 1-4
YuYu Hakusho [I loved this, but I also watched on TV so it was free ^-^]
Bleach [fun but not something I'd be willing to spend money on. same as above]
Trinity Blood [Pretty animation but the story in kind of boring]
Haibane Renmei [haven't finished, I do like so far] vol.1
Fruits Basket [I liked the first vol. but I lost interest in the rest]
Princes Mononoke [My favorite movie]
Howls Moving Castle [My second Favorite]

That’s all I can think of right now...

One I was interested in was Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, I saw the first ep. and loved the animation, it’s also my favorite book.

The Big O. It's an extended discourse on questions of memory, identity, fatalism and free will disguised as "Batman with a giant robot." Just don't expect to be satisfied by the ending. The good guys don't die, but it doesn't really answer anything.

Peacemaker Kurogane. Rather bloody katana-slashing "historical" drama with plenty of good comic relief but some of the most gripping suspense and action I've seen in any anime. Unfortunately, again, the ending is unsatisfying. In fact, it's downright terrible. The series is overflowing with secondary characters and subplots that never get resolved. Still well worth seeing, though.

Finish Haibane Renmei. It has everything you're looking for.

Some others to consider:
Crest/Banner of the Stars -- a well-thought-out war-in-space series with strong characters and good stories.
Serial Experiments Lain -- If Philip K. Dick had made anime, this is what it would have been like. This one requires lots of thought and a few reservations, and I recommend it mainly to those college-age and older. But if you're ready for it, it's endlessly fascinating.
Kino's Journey -- No long-term story or much character development here; it's essentially a collection of fables that provide much to think about. (The first volume of Kino no Tabi, the books by Keiichi Sigsawa that the anime is based on, has recently been translated into English. It's worth reading.)
Mushishi -- Like Kino's Journey, it's a collection of short stories with no long-term plot. There's a lot packed into each episode. (Currently unavailable, but it may soon be licensed.)
Simoun -- Currently being fansubbed. This one requires some serious reservations: it's set in a world in which each person is born female and doesn't decide her permanent sex until she's seventeen. Girls do kiss girls, but in what I've seen so far it doesn't go beyond that, and it's not the point of the show. It has all the drama, plot, philosophy and character development you could possibly want. It's also one of the prettiest shows I've seen.

Monster (see the review for content.)
Hunter x Hunter (if you liked yu yu hakusho try this. same author. but you didn't like the manga so...)
FMA (good anime. not that good of an ending. you should try the manga)
Cowboy Bebop (i'm recommending this because it's my favorite anime. it does cross the line for several of your standards but you still might find the anime enjoyable...)
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (good anime. there's some fanservice. i really enjoyed it though.)

I saw Cowboy Bebop, too much swearing and the ending was horrible in my opinion
I did see all of The Big O, the story being so incomplete kept me from really liking it.
I watched a little of FMA, I read up to vol. 6 of the manga, maybe I should give it another try.
Oh, and I'm only interested in ones that are licensed, I don't support fansubs.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Monster I'll look into.
Serial Experiments Lain and Kino's Journey sound interesting but I'm not sure if I'm ready to watch them yet...

mai wrote:I watched a little of FMA, I read up to vol. 6 of the manga, maybe I should give it another try.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Monster I'll look into.

yeah. if you like the monster manga, then you'll like the anime since it follows the same storyline and stuff. as for fma, the manga and anime take different directions once the manga reaches a certain volume.

Definitely finish Last EXILE. It's a great series. I'd also recommend Gankutsuou if you're alright with the sexual stuff in it. It's what introduced me to reading the book. A warning though... the ending will probably make you mad and make you want to read the book again. It's a good series, but the book is just better overall.

I watched two episodes of Kino's Journey and couldn't stand any more after that, but to each their own.

You might try Escaflowne.

Thanks for the sugestions!

I heard about the end of Last Exile and I'm not too keen to finish it. Sounds like number of characters die. I'm also not that into Clause or Lavi. Seems like the characters I liked get killed off -_-

I'd suggest...

-Monster (I only read the manga, but this is an excellent drama. All of it is realistic, which is hard to come by in anime.)

-Fullmetal Alchemist (Very good story and art. I didn't mind the ending. It just felt like it came out of the blue, though. The manga is better in most ways.)

-...and... Eureka Seven. It might sound wierd, but this anime has become my favorite through drama alone. The characters in this have the best sense of personality and character development I have ever seen in anime. That, and it is planned out very well.